My Name Is Yoon

Getting to feel at home in a new country Yoon's name means Shining Wisdom, and when she writes it in Korean, it looks happy, like dancing figures. But her father tells her that she must learn to write it in English. In English, all the lines and circles stand alone, which is just how Yoon feels in the United States. Yoon isn't sure that she wants to be YOON. At her new school, she tries out different names maybe CAT or BIRD. Maybe CUPCAKE! Helen Recorvits's spare and inspiring story about a little girl finding her place in a new country is given luminous pictures filled with surprising vistas and dreamscapes by Gabi Swiatkowska.

Helen Recorvits is the author of two books for older readers, Where Heroes Hide and Goodbye, Walter Malinski, an NCSS-CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies. She lives in Glocester, Rhode Island.

Gabi Swiatkowska has illustrated one other picture book, Hannah’s Bookmobile Christmas by Sally Derby. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

"With subtle grace, this moving story depicts a Korean girl's difficult adjustment to her new life in America...Swiatkowska's stunningly spare, almost surrealistic paintings enhance the story's message." -- Starred, School Library Journal

"As noteworthy for what it leaves out as for what it includes....Yoon may be new to America, but her feelings as an outsider will be recognizable to all children." -- Starred, Publishers Weekly